Economic

The first-ever formal discussion on the proposed and controversial new Tourism Act will be held tomorrow.

The country’s fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP in 2020 had swelled to high of 11.1% from 9.6% in the previous year.

Last year’s figure is also unprecedented considering the fact that the average between 2016 and 2018 was around 5%.

The Government has ordered Litro Gas Ltd. to convey true facts besides the changing of the colour of the recently-launched hybrid cylinder.

SLAITO says facilities provided were quite expensive, claims Indian inbound traffic has come to a standstill

Fitch Ratings, the international credit rating agency, has assigned the Capital Alliance Investment Grade Fund a first-time rating of A [Af(lka)], making it the only unit trust fund in Sri Lanka to currently be recognised by the institute.

Bank of Ceylon said yesterday it set a record during Avurudu day alone with 8.395 million transactions done worth over Rs. 119.4 billion within its own CDM/CRM and ATM network.

Deferment follows P’ment having not received Supreme Court’s determination on the Bill as yet

The Central Bank has renewed its call for consolidation within the banking sector to address existing weaknesses and boost resilience, although the sector saw higher growth in assets, deposits and profits in 2020.

Businesses and dealers are concerned over the alleged shortage of US Dollars in the market as the Central Bank stepped up curbs against select forward contracts this week.

The pandemic impacted salaries in dualistic ways last year, with real wages of formal private sector workers showing a reduction of 4.2% but in contrast nominal wages of public sector workers increased 9.2% and real wages 2.9% in 2020, the Central Bank said.

Government revenue took a nosedive in 2020, recording a decline of 27.7% to Rs. 1.36 billion from Rs. 1.89 billion with tax earnings also dropping 29.9% to Rs. 1.2 billion from Rs. 1.7 billion the previous year, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The number of credit cards in use in the country has crossed the 1.9 million mark, Central Bank data showed.

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) and Litro Gas Lanka yesterday locked horns over the new hybrid 18-litre cylinder, with the former insisting the product was in violation of multiple regulations and was misleading the public, while a company official contended they were within legal parameters.

Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index, decreased to 3.9% in April 2021 from 4.1% in March 2021, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The Export Development Board (EDB) yesterday urged the private sector to be better geared to face any possible challenge with the recent escalation of COVID-19 in the country.

Reuters: Shares ended marginally higher on Monday, driven by gains in financial and consumer staples’ stocks.

Reuters: Shares ended lower on Friday, hurt by losses in industrial stocks.

Attesting to resilience despite the COVID-19 impact, merchandise exports in March have crossed the $ 1 billion mark, an achievement last enjoyed in September last year.